During a hearing held at Nyarugenge Intermediate Court for the murder case against Marie-Chantal Mukanzabarushimana last month, the suspect in the death of her stepdaughter asked the presiding judge to recuse himself from the case.

Mukanzabarushimana’s decision came after the judge refused to comply with her request to postpone her hearing for the third time.

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This is not the first time a defendant has filed a motion requesting a judge to step down from the bench in a case. This article seeks to elucidate the legal circumstances under which a judge may be asked to recuse from a trial.

What does the law say?

Article 103 of the law relating to civil, commercial, labour, and administrative procedure outlines seven grounds upon which a judge may recuse from a case.

"Any judge may be disqualified if their spouses and their children have a personal interest in the case. Or if the spouse has a direct kinship, related by marriage or a direct relationship up to the fourth degree of the collateral line with one of the members of the bench, one of the parties, his/her counsel or representative,” the article reads in part.

Another reason should be if one of the parties demonstrates the existence of enmity between them and the judge, or one of the parties proves particular friendship between the judge and the other party, or if, since the commencement of the case, the judge has been entertained at one of the parties’ own costs or has ever accepted a gift from the party.

Moreover, the judge should be disqualified if he or she has already given an opinion or advice on the case before the hearing of the case, also if they once intervened in the case as a judge, a mediator, a prosecutor, a judicial police officer, a party, a witness, an arbitrator, an interpreter, an expert or as a public servant.

The last reason to be disqualified in the trial, according to law, is if there has been a criminal or civil case between the judge or his/her spouse, direct blood or marital relative, or an indirect relative up to the fourth degree of the collateral lineage and one of the parties, his/ her spouse or a person related to him/her on basis of blood or marriage directly or indirectly up to the fourth degree of collateral lineage.

What next after a judge has been recused?

One might wonder what happens after one party rejects a judge. Typically, the rejecting party has two days to submit their reasons for disqualifying the judge into the legal system. At the end of these two days, the court examines the submitted reasons and then decides the way forward, or the future of the case at hand. Judges are likely to be changed whenever the reasons are valid.

However, during Mukanzabarushimana’s hearing held on July 5, it was revealed that she had not presented reasons to disqualify the judge. As a result, the court decided to proceed with the trial, maintaining the same judge.